Hey, I'm planning on taking my .243 out on the opener and was wondering what brand and grain of bullet ya'll would recommend to do the most damage on a deer. Since its not really one of the "bigger" rounds, I just want to pick the most lethal one I can find. Obviously I know shot placement is foremost, but I'm just looking for some suggestions. Thanks
I have been using Hornady, American Whitetail for the last 3 or 4 years, and shot 2 deer with them. They performed perfectly. I even recovered one of the bullets, it held together and mushroomed perfectly. I would highly recommend them.
I?ve harvested many deer using 100 grain Sierra spritzer boatails, most dropped in their tracks. IMO .243 with a 100 gr bullet one of the best deer rounds out there. I think Hornady makes some quality .243 ammo in that weight
Hornady's new Superformance ammo is supposed to be pretty good. Of course I trust pretty much anything Hornady makes. Remington Corelokts have certainly killed plenty of deer, but if you're looking for something high performance I would go with Hornady or Nosler ammo.
Just my opinion but I would be cautious using anything of lighter construction(hornady sst nosler ballistic tip etc etc) traditional 100 grain soft points are ok, but I have personally seen the sst's blowup and give bad penetration at close range the superformance is just going to make it worse. That being said those bullets also can give spectacular kills, its all the range and where you hit them(don't want to hit heavy bone) 100 grain partition to me is the best 243 load out there but corelokts are pretty good.
I have a buddy with a large tract of land where he has quite a few kids hunting almost always using 243's(one uses a 6mm but its basically the same thing) They have tried a lot of different ammo in search of the perfect 243 round over the years. SST's and similar can be spectacular but can fail on shoulder shots, corelokts and interlocks were pretty good but not as fast killing as the sst's, their search stopped with the exact load you listed 100 grain nosler partition wide fast wounding but won't fail to penetrate!
I reload and use the 85gr Sierra HPBT.An older guy in his 80's uses the 100grs.Both kill.I have busted shoulders but do target the lungs.As with any caliber,as long as you hit them in the heart or lungs they just ain't gonna live!
This girl was looking right at me at 80yds.Hit her square in the chest.She sure coughed up allot of blood from her lungs in the 30yds she lived.Made a nice 3 foot wide path to follow. Pictures 487 by t410er, on Flickr
Back when I used the .243 I shot the Hornady 100gr Interlock in the old light magnums. Killed every deer I hit with them though I don't remember the wound cavity as I was 15 when I switched to the 30-06.
I picked up a Remington Model 7 predator in 243 this year. I am shooting Nosler 90 Grain BT for deer and I also picked up some 55 Grain BT Varmegeddons coyotes. They both shot well when I sighted in the rifle. Anxious to see how the 90 gr will perform on whitetails.
I've had a .243 since the early 70s. Never used anything but 100 gr. for deer, 1st factory loads and then my reloads. For deer I never saw the need for higher priced premium bullets?
95 gr. Hornady SST's have worked great for me......In the back of my mind I always think its a bit light for deer and then I shoot another one and have great results so I keep using it
Well Browtine64 i bet you don't know anymore than you did when you ask the question ?
It is a fact that any 100 grain bullet will take a deer down ! Just shoot in you rifle with what ever you pick out and it will do it's job,believe me kid .
.243 is just a superb deer round. My daughter shot her first buck with a 243 today it just hammered the spike buck. 100 grain hornady interlock bullet. The first time using them. Usually shoot Feds with 100 grain partition. Shot many deer with sierra game kings.
My boys have shot 8 deer with the 243. None have gone far but can only remember a good blood trail on one...most had no blood trail....very difficult to find if they go into the switchgrass on the farm we hunt...my youngest shot a buck yesterday...liver shot at 35 yards....no exit wound...no blood trail...traveled about 100yds....lucky to find him...will be switching to a larger cal next year...
What bullet were you using? I have seen spectacular performance from the ballistic tips and SSt's but I have also seen failures, they simply don't penetrate that well. On the flip side the barnes ttsx will exit from pretty much any angle which you should be shooting, thing is it can be slow killing on lung shots, especially at some distance. Partition is the best blend of both opens real fast but still penetrates even on heavy bone. In a larger caliber with heavier bullet, even a 150 grain 30 cal, will almost always give full penetration even with a lightly contructed bullet they are more forgiving because of the extra penetration but with good shots they don't kill them any quicker.
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